A Glossary of Genealogical Terms: Difference between revisions

*Finnish word for "illegitimate, out of wedlock."

*Czech word for "and."

*French word for "has."

*Portuguese word for "the (feminine)" and "to, toward."

*Spanish word for "to, in, into, on."

*Dutch word for "named, alias, also known as, assumed name, accepted surname."

===== aangiften  =====

*Spanish word for "abscess."

*Latin word for "death."

*Landowners who lived far away from the area they owned. Most of the landowners for Prince Edward Island before 1873 lived in Great Britain. People who lived on the island rented or leased the land from them.

*French word for "absolution, last rites."

*Danish and Norwegian word for "to give absolution."

*Latin word for "without, except."

*German word for "to die, to die off."

*Latin word for "baptized."

*A summary that contains only the pertinent points of a longer text. Abstracts are commonly created for articles (such as obituaries) in periodicals and newspapers and for documents or collections of records.

===== Acadia, Canada  =====

*A person from Acadia; also a descendant of French settlers who came from the Acadia region of Canada, or present-day New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. In 1755 during the French and Indian Wars, the British tried to force the Acadians to swear an oath of allegiance to the British king. When they refused, many were forced to move south. After suffering many hardships, some returned to northern New Brunswick and to coastal areas of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. About 4,000 went to Louisiana, then a French colony, where their descendants became known as the Cajuns.

===== Accelerated Indexing Systems  =====

*A private company that published indexes to various United States censuses and other records.

===== Account, financial  =====

*Records that show all transactions pertaining to the settlement of a deceased person's estate.

===== Act book  =====

*A law passed by the British Parliament in 1840 that established a united government for Lower Canada (to be called Canada East and later Québec) and Upper Canada (to be called Canada West and later Ontario). In 1791 the British government had established two colonies in central Canada: one to please the English-speaking United Empire Loyalists and another to please the French-speaking settlers. These two colonies had separate governments until the Act of Union took effect in 1841. The act provided for one governor to oversee both colonies. It established two legislative bodies. The legislative council was made up of 20 people appointed by the governor. The legislative assembly was made up of 42 members elected by the people in the colonies. The act established English as the only official language for councils and assemblies. French was made the second official language in 1848.

===== Actes de tutelle  =====

*A failed attempt by Norway to capture the fortress at Bohus.

===== Acuerdos  =====

*The Spanish term for an agreement or settlement.

===== Addendum  =====

*A field on the Scottish Church Records that contains notes written by the person who indexed the original record. This field may contain frame numbers, additional relatives, or other information.

===== Addressbücher, Germany  =====

*The German word for a city directory, which lists the names, addresses, and possibly telephone numbers of people living in the same city.

===== Adjutant  =====

*A legal document appointing a person to supervise the distribution of an estate belonging to a person who died intestate (without a will). An administration may also be called a letter of administration or admon.

===== Administration bond  =====

*A written statement posted by the administrator of an estate guaranteeing that he or she will faithfully perform the tasks assigned by the probate court.

===== Administrator  =====

*An individual appointed by a court to settle a deceased individual’s estate if that individual did not leave a will.

     Portuguese word for "administration."

*A record granting the right to administer an estate when the executor named in the will is deceased or unwilling or unable to act as executor.

===== Adoption  =====

*Parents who legally assume responsibility for the rights and privileges of a child not born to them. The duty of caring for the child is transferred from the natural parents to the adoptive parents.

===== Affidavit  =====